Oren Becher, MD

Oren Becher, MD, is chief of the Jack Martin Fund Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital’s Children’s Cancer Program in the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he is an attending physician. Dr. Becher is a board-certified Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist. He has been active in academic medicine since 2007. He treats blood disorders and cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults.

Dr. Becher earned his BA magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, and MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  He completed his pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC and a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC.  Dr. Becher served on the faculty at Duke University and Northwestern University prior to relocating to Mount Sinai.

Dr. Becher’s research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), uses genetically engineered mouse models to identify more effective therapies for children with DIPG, or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.  DIPG is an incurable childhood brain cancer that arises in the brainstem.  Dr. Becher developed the first genetically engineered mouse models for DIPG and co-discovered that 25% of DIPGs harbor somatic activating mutations in a gene called ACVR1 or ALK2, thus identifying a novel therapeutic target.  His research team is currently evaluating novel therapies in these models and are also developing novel models for other types of childhood brain cancers.  Dr. Becher’s research has been published in top scientific journals, and he serves on the advisory board of several leading pediatric cancer foundations.   Dr. Becher has also initiated clinical trials for children with solid tumors evaluating novel therapies.

In addition to directing his research group, Dr. Becher provides patient care as a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and supervises pre- and post-doctoral trainees.  He serves as a grant reviewer for several organizations including NIH.  Among the numerous awards he has won, he has been named a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator, a St. Baldrick’s Scholar, a Forbeck Scholar, and a Hyundai Hope on Wheels Scholar.